Noise Pollution

By Health Day

Story Created:
May 8, 2013 at 8:00 PM EDT

Story Updated:
May 9, 2013 at 8:00 AM EDT

Researchers in Germany had more than 100 people record their heart activity over several 6-hour spans. They also recorded surrounding noise levels. The sounds were classified as either above or below a threshold of 65 decibels , which is the level of a normal conversation. The corresponding heart activity was then analyzed. According to the results, the heart's ability to adapt to acute events was affected by as little as a 5 decibel increase in exposure no matter what level the noise started at. The researchers say their findings show that noise at low levels may be just as harmful to your health as noise at high levels.

Since the average age of the participants was 61, there is interest in repeating the study with younger people to see if the results are the same.

I'm Dr. Cindy Haines of HealthDay TV with the news doctors are reading health news that matters to you.

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